


They Only Begin

by EmeryldLuk



Series: Lily/Phoebe [6]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ancient Greece, Candles, Comfort, F/F, First Meeting, Fluff, Flufftober2019, rainstorm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 19:02:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20894591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeryldLuk/pseuds/EmeryldLuk
Summary: Lily and Phoebe take shelter in a cave at night while a thunderstorm passes.





	They Only Begin

The thunder rumbling overhead wasn’t what woke Lily up. What woke her up was the feeling of someone shaking her. It was dark in the cave she and the young demigod had taken shelter for the night. Lily blinked, slowly forcing the grogginess from her mind.

“What is it, Little one?”

“I think Zeus hates me.” The young girl clung to Lily’s clothes with both hands. “He’s mad that I didn’t get married.”

“Why would he care? He’s not the God of marriage.”

“But his Wife is. She obviously told him about what happened.”

“That is nonsense. Hera doesn’t need a man to do her work for her. Go back to sleep.”

Thunder cracked, causing the young girl to yelp and cling tighter to Lily. Lily sighed and put her arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“It’s not about you, okay? I’m sure Zeus is mad about someone else.”

“But it’s so loud,” she whimpered.

“I know.” Lily licked her lips and focused on adding some light to the cave. After a few seconds of concentration, the cave changed, now lit by the light of several thick candles. A moth flew around one of the candles out of curiosity.

“Better?” Lily asked.

“Mmhm,” the girl said with a small nod. She still hugged Lily tight. Lightning flashed in the cave entrance and thunder crashed.

“Your name, Penesia was it?”

“Phoebe,” was the quiet answer.

“Sorry. Phoebe.”

After a long silence, Phoebe asked, “Do you kill monsters a lot?”

“When I have to. I don’t like killing.”

“Why? They’re monsters and you’re a hero.”

“Doesn’t mean they don’t feel things too. When I’m fighting, I can feel what my enemy feels. If they’re in pain, I know where. If they’re sad, I know why. If they’re angry, I know.”

“That doesn’t sound useful for a hero.”

“Maybe not, but it’s how it is for me. So I try not to hurt people or monsters if I can. The less pain I cause, the better.”

“What about if you have to.”

Lily was quiet. “Do you want to hear a story?”

“Sure.”

“When I was younger, much younger, I had a horrible father. He hated me and hit my mother often.”

“Why?”

“Because I wasn’t his. He knew my mother had lied. She’d been unfaithful. He didn’t know who.”

“He didn’t know you were the child of a God?”

“Nope. No one but my mother knew and she never said. So, he was horrible to us. I was given the worst chores to do. I was often on my own. So, one day I decided not to go back home. I ran down the coast we lived on and played among the rocks all day.”

“Wish I could have run away.”

“You have. You’re here with me.”

“Did you go home eventually?”

“Eventually, but it stormed that night, so I had to wait in a cave for the storm to pass. I was all alone in the dark for hours.”

“That’s scary.”

“It was. But now I’m not scared anymore. You may be scared now, but you’ll lose that fear too one day.”

“Don’t leave me?”

“I won’t.”


End file.
